Homefront (video game)

Homefront
Developer(s)	Kaos Studios Digital Extremes (PC)
Publisher(s)	THQ Spike (Japan)
Writer(s)	C.J. Kershner[1]
Composer(s)	Matthew Harwood
Engine	Unreal Engine 3[2]
Platform(s)	Microsoft Windows PlayStation 3 Xbox 360 OnLive
Release date(s)	NA 20110315March 15, 2011 AU 20110317March 17, 2011 EU 20110318March 18, 2011 JP 20110414April 14, 2011
Genre(s)	First-person shooter
Mode(s)	Single-player, multiplayer
Distribution	Optical disc, digital distribution, cloud computing

Homefront is a first-person shooter video game developed by Kaos Studios and published by THQ. Players are members of a resistance movement fighting against a near-future foreign military occupation of the United States. It was released for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 on March 15, 2011 in North America, March 17, 2011 in Australia, March 18, 2011 in Europe,^[3] and April 14, 2011 in Japan.^[4][5]

Gameplay

Single-player

The single-player campaign is said to be 5–10 hours long depending on experience.^[6]

Multiplayer

The multiplayer component of Homefront is focused on large-scale vehicle based combat reminiscent of Kaos Studios' first title, Frontlines: Fuel of War. The defining innovation of Homefront's multiplayer is its battle points system, which is an in-game currency that allows a player to purchase weapons, gear and vehicles. Players earn points by taking objectives and getting kills and are forced to choose between many small purchases such as weapons, missiles and drones versus larger, higher cost items like helicopters and tanks.

The multiplayer takes place in the period before the U.S. armed forces were completely scattered. Each copy of Homefront contains an online pass, enabling users the full multiplayer experience. Although the online pass is not required to play multiplayer, those who play without an online pass will be capped at level 5 out of 75.^[7]

Plot

Setting and backstory

The video game is set in an alternate reality setting of the world, where in the 2010s, there is high tensions between North Korea and the global powers due to the country's military aggression, including its successful nuclear weapons test and the sinking of a South Korean ship, which heightened those tensions.^[8]

In the year 2013, two years after the death of North Korean supreme leader Kim Jong-il, his son and successor, Kim Jong-un, reunites North and South Korea to form the Greater Korean Republic (GKR), a technological and economic global power, using the military strength of the North and the economic strength of the South. By the year 2015, a war between Iran and Saudi Arabia, both becoming nuclear-armed states, devastated the global oil supply, causing gas prices to skyrocket to $19.99 per gallon^[8], leaving many countries in debts and causing mass hysteria. This precipitates extreme economic turmoil and massive social unrest in the U.S. Subsequently, in 2017, the U.S. military recalls much of its overseas presence, particularly in the Pacific. A year later, Japan, significantly weakened due to the diminishment of the U.S.-Japan Security Treaty is easily conquered by the GKR and joins the Greater Korean Republic as a satellite country.^[8]

In 2022, conditions in the United States, get worse, with the collapse of the financial system and an Asian bird flu epidemic that claims 6 million lives, forcing the Mexican government to quarantine the country by setting up immigration quotas as the Asian bird flu continues throughout North America. By 2024, Korea's annexation has continued throughout Southeast Asia, including its emerging economic powers, giving the GKR an empire reminiscent of the Imperial Japan.^[8] Finally, in the year 2025, the Greater Korean Republic launches a supposed advanced GPS satellite that would be a signal of peace, but is actually an orbital weapon, that detonated a high-altitude nuclear device over the U.S., creating an EMP burst that wipes out much of the nation's electrical infrastructure. In the ensuing chaos, the KPA launches an instant, amphibious invasion that seizes control of Hawaii and much of the U.S. Pacific Coast. Korean paratroopers are deployed over the Midwest and, with the military severely crippled and scattered, launch the final offensive to take control of the remaining states. However, the Americans were able to counterattack, leaving the Eastern States free, and effectively dividing the nation at the irradiated Mississippi River, with the Western states under GKR occupation, which created the setting of the game.^[8]

Story

In 2027, two years after Korean occupation begins, Robert Jacobs, a former U.S. Marine Corps combat helicopter pilot, is awakened in his apartment in Montrose, Colorado and ordered to a re-education camp in Alaska.^[9] Jacobs sees that the Korean troops have seized control of the town, taking potentially valuable residents into custody and executing resistors. However, the bus carrying Jacobs is ambushed by American resistance fighters Connor and Rianna, who lead him to Oasis, a resistance hideout founded by local state patrolman Boone Karlson. Boone, Connor, and Rianna are aware of Jacobs's background as a pilot and recruit him to help recover fuel for the scattered U.S. military forces. Boone initiates the operation with himself, Jacobs, Connor (a former Marine from North Carolina), Rianna (a hunting expert from Colorado), and Hopper (a Korean-American technical expert from Oakland, California).

They plan to steal several tracking beacons from a school used as a labor exchange facility, with the help of their "inside man" Arnie. These beacons are to be placed on fuel trucks so they can be tracked and hijacked. However, Arnie betrays the team in order to protect his children, forcing the team to kill him and eliminate all forces in the camp. They discover a mass grave in the school's baseball field and narrowly escape Korean reinforcements by hiding among the bodies.

The rebels continue attacks on the KPA, assaulting an occupied discount warehouse store, where Jacobs, Connor, and Rianna succeed in locating the trucks and planting a beacon on one of them. They return to Oasis, only to find that Boone and all of the base's inhabitants have been discovered and killed by Korean troops.^[10] They also discovers that the KAF are attacking a nearby town beyond the wall, as payback for the raid the night before. The group narrowly escape with other Colorado resistance fighters by breaching the walls enclosing the town.

The team has the information that a suitable helicopter is located in a survivalist encampment in Utah. As the residents of the camp are violent towards Koreans and Americans alike, the team infiltrates the camp and manages to steal the helicopter. They pursue and hijack the fuel convoy. With Jacobs providing air support, the team continues their trip to San Francisco, where they deliver their jet fuel to aid the remnants of the U.S. military there.

The U.S. Armed Forces begin their West Coast counter-offensive by trying to retake San Francisco. They launch an assault from Marin County that succeeds in retaking most of the Golden Gate Bridge with ground personnel, anti-aircraft guns, and fighter aircraft, as the U.S. Navy reinforcements arrive. Nearing the San Francisco side of the bridge, the Americans find themselves outgunned by a massive KPA armor column. Although the ground forces have captured and reprogrammed the KPA ground-based air defenses, attaining air superiority for the U.S. Air Force, the American aircraft cannot identify where to strike due to the smoke, debris and confusion. Realizing that they are at a critical turning point, Connor lights a flare and advances on foot towards the enemy convoy and orders an air strike onto his own position, sacrificing himself to ensure that American ground forces can retake the city.

The news of the successful operation is reported by British and European media, with the Bay Area counter-attack proving to be a major turning point in America's guerrilla war against the GKR occupation. With San Francisco taken, many of the West Coast cities were taken into American hands and the military launches a counter-offensive to take back the occupied states with the American Resistances joining the cause, intending to reunite the U.S and to eradicate the KPA from the American grounds. With the managing success of the U.S. military against the KPA, the EU Defense Council schedules an emergency meeting, declare war on North Korea, and start planning on launching an offensive to eradicate the KPA from the United States.

Development

Promotion of Homefront at E3 2010

Homefront's gameplay has been completely reworked from its origins in Frontlines: Fuel of War, focusing on a more cinematic, character-driven experience. David Votypka, the design director of Homefront, said that the gameplay would be based around guerilla style tactics, inspired by Half-Life 2.^[11] The same interview asserted the surroundings were designed to establish a connection with the user by using real companies and brands.^[12]

The antagonists in Homefront were originally intended to be the communist Chinese, but were later replaced by a unified Korea for two reasons: the risk of a possible backlash by the Chinese Ministry of Culture and the reality of economic interdependence between America and China that made the Chinese "not that scary," according to Tae Kim, a former CIA field agent and consultant on the game's backstory.^[13] Kim said: "We went to a very rigorous, academic research process to make sure to not only look at North Korea's current state but to look at historical examples how things could parallel and turn events. History repeats itself. From today to the day the invasion starts in the game, if you combine everything, the odds are very very slim this becomes true. But when you look at the storyline step by step, every step is a coin flip but a plausible step. So once you get there, it's plausible. And from there the next step is plausible as well. Even though the whole thing is fictional, it comes with plausible baby steps."^[14] While the story was billed as being written by John Milius, Gamasutra reported "most former employees credit Kaos writer C.J. Kershner with Homefront's script", claiming that Milius wrote not a single word.^[15]

Release

The finalized version of Homefront's timeline was released at end of January 2011.^[16]

The executive producer of the PC version of Homefront, Frank Delise, stated before release that the PC version of the game would feature exclusive content and dedicated servers. Additional exclusive features include clan support, DirectX 11 graphics, and first person vehicle cockpits.^[17][18] Homefront has been released on Steam,^[19][20] as well as the OnLive gaming service.

Novel

THQ announced a tie-in novel, Homefront: The Voice of Freedom, written by John Milius and Raymond Benson, that follows a group of reporters making their way across America, exploring the early days of the occupation. The book involves characters from the game and sets the stage for its story. The book was released ahead of the game on January 25, 2011 as part of a "vast transmedia strategy" for Homefront.^[21][22]

Soundtrack

The soundtrack for the game was composed by Matthew Harwood.

1. "War Ensemble" - As I Lay Dying (originally by Slayer) (4:51)
2. "Fight the Power" - The Dillinger Escape Plan featuring Chuck D (originally by Public Enemy) (3:57)
3. "Uprising" - Iwrestledabearonce (originally by Muse) (4:16)
4. "War Pigs" - The Acacia Strain (originally by Black Sabbath) (8:15)
5. "One" – Periphery (originally by Metallica) (7:12)
6. "Fortunate Son" – The Ghost Inside (originally by Creedence Clearwater Revival) (2:29)
7. "For What It's Worth" – Winds of Plague (originally by Buffalo Springfield) (2:40)
8. "Us and Them" – Misery Signals (originally by Pink Floyd) (7:41
9. "Masters of War" – Arsonists Get All the Girls (originally by Bob Dylan) (4:15)
10. "War" – Oceano (originally by Edwin Starr) (3:58)
11. "Sunday Bloody Sunday" – Veil of Maya (originally by U2) (4:25)

Reception

Homefront was met with mixed to positive reviews across all platforms. Some critics praised the atmosphere and story, while others panned those same aspects, along with the short length of the single-player campaign. However, the multiplayer aspect of Homefront was generally well received. Review aggregator GameRankings generated a score of 71.70% for the Xbox 360 version, 69.33% for the PlayStation 3 version and 68.89% for the Microsoft Windows version.^[23][24][25] Review aggregator Metacritic generated a score of 70 out of 100 across all platforms.^[26][27][28]

Play praised Kaos studios for the different campaign mode and multiplayer, but criticized most other things.^[34] IGN praised the setting and presentation, while criticizing the short campaign.^[32] GameSpot praised some memorable moments and the well crafted multiplayer, however it criticized the short length and that it felt too familiar compared to other first person shooters.^[30] According to GameZone, "with a few tweaks and a fresher coat of paint, Homefront would have been outstanding, far outshining either of those titles. As is, it’s still worth a playthrough, and the quality multiplayer makes an excellent alternative to your current, aging FPS of choice."^[31]

THQ stated first-day sales in North America reached 375,000 copies sold. THQ announced an estimated 1 million copies across North America, Europe and Asia Pacific markets have been sold. As of 3 May 2011 (2011-05-03) it had shipped 2.6 million units to retail since launch.^[35]

Controversies

Advertising for Homefront has simulated a declaration of war in mainstream websites and media, creating confusion amongst many non-gamers. The nature and timing of the advertising created concern in the wake of the ROKS Cheonan sinking and the North Korean artillery strike on Yeonpyeong Island, causing mainstream media coverage of the advertising campaign.^[36] THQ has denied that the game was developed to piggyback off the tensions on the Korean peninsula, saying that "Homefront is a work of speculative fiction, set in the year 2027. Recent real-world events on the Korean peninsula are obviously tragic and, like everyone, we hope for a swift and peaceful resolution."^[37]

For sales of Homefront to Japan, the game has been censored by removing all references to North Korea including pictures of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.^[38] They are replaced by references to "A Certain Country to the North" (北の某国) and the "Northern Leader" (北の指導者).^[39] Spike, the game's Japanese/Asian publisher, justified the censors because they said to "use their real names would have been 'malicious' to an 'existing person' and an 'existing country.'"^[40]

THQ released 10,000 balloons near San Francisco as a publicity stunt during the Game Developers Conference, angering local environmentalists after balloons fell into San Francisco Bay.^[41]

Sequel

Despite mixed reviews, publisher THQ confirmed that a sequel to Homefront was in development. As developer Kaos Studios has been shut down, the game will be developed by Crytek UK using CryEngine 3.^[42] After THQ filed for bankruptcy, Crytek acquired the rights to the franchise as a whole on January 22, 2013.^[43]

References